Over 30 business and academic leaders in the real estate industry gathered at a closed door forum in Singapore for an open discussion on “The Internet of Things and Real Estate”. Jointly organized by the Urban Land Institute and the NUS Institute of Real Estate Studies (IRES), the inaugural ULI-IRES Thought Leadership Roundtable discussion was held on 6 October where participants engaged in thought provoking discussions on the “Rise of the Sharing Economy” and “Big Data”.

How do we design and build flexible space to get ready for the shared economy? What is the impact of big data on the workforce of the future? How will these concepts transform real estate?  These questions must have been on the minds of the attendees who came from organizations including GIC, Blackstone, CapitaLand, Keppel Land, Far East Organization, Temasek Holdings, and the LKY School of Public Policy. “Provocateur” speakers Warren Tseng from Uber and Ong Whee Teck from PwC’s fire-starting presentations got everyone thinking out of the box and sparked off debates and constructive discussions reflecting on the impact and connection to the real estate industry. The roundtable discussion was chaired by Dr Seek Ngee Huat, Chairman of Global Logistic Properties  and Chairman of ULI Asia Pacific & IRES.